Another AD Thread, Expanding Programs

RamblinPeck

RamblinPeck

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Sorta off topic for this forum, but football forum is by far the most active, and this is related to the new AD, so...

What do you think about expanding Techs sports program? We're pretty small right now, and I see definite room for smart growth (men/women soccer for one, womens golf, etc). How would you want our new AD, whoever he (or she... I guess?) to feel about this? What directions do you think would be best for the sports program in general? Obviously football needs to improve, significanty, but otherwise we're in great shape all around.
 
How about women's field hockey, and men's Lacrosse. I believe that those are two sports that are played by other ACC member schools. I think that the ACC is usually well represented when it comes time to play for a NC in those sports. IIRC Tech used to have men's Lacrosse as an intercollegiate sport. Am I correct about this?
 
I'd like to see lacrosse (got hooked on it during the summer thanks to ESPNU), but with it being pretty much the ultimate in upper middle to upper class northeastern white boy sport, I don't think we'd do very well in it for a long time. Crazier things have happened though... I'd like to see what a team full of HS linebackers who were a bit undersized for 1A could do.

I think soccer is our best first option. For some reason the soccer kids tend to be smarter than most male SA's, the ACC is very respectible when it comes to the sport, and with recruiting Atlanta alone I think we could have a pretty respectible team quickly.
 
Whiteboy? Jim Brown the famous NFL running back was an all star Lacrosse player at Syracuse.

It would be great to have access to all those Soccer players that could turn out to be FG kickers.
 
When I was in high school (1991-95) a good friend of mine knew a buddy thaqt said he played for GT lacrosse. I don't know if it was organized or anything like that, but I know some students were playing. It was so long ago that I don't remember any specifics.
 
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Whiteboy? Jim Brown the famous NFL running back was an all star Lacrosse player at Syracuse.

It would be great to have access to all those Soccer players that could turn out to be FG kickers.

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Not doubting that at all, but by and large, it is upper class white boys who play. Thats why schools like Duke, John Hopkins, Syracuse, Virginia, Cornell, UNC, Princeton are very successful, theres a few common points among these schools.

I think its a great game, just hasn't caught on through a lot of society yet, but it is growing fast in the last 5 years, lots of HS are starting up teams.

GT does have a club team (men and women) that competes, and does pretty well. Men won their club conference a couple years back.
 
I was told that the former coach of the professional Atlanta Women's soccer team (from that league that I think is defunct now) wanted to start a women's soccer team at Tech in the future as HC. The team was pretty good as I recall and I've been told by those who know more about soccer than I, that we could have a great women's team quickly.

I'd like to see women's and men's soccer first. Lacrosse and field hockey would also be exciting but I think we could draw a lot more fans for soccer if we marketed it correctly.
 
Where would the soccer field be located? or all of these other sports? I think real estate is the biggest issue. I don't even know the soccer and lacrosse seasons, do they overlap, could they share a field?
 
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Where would the soccer field be located? or all of these other sports? I think real estate is the biggest issue. I don't even know the soccer and lacrosse seasons, do they overlap, could they share a field?

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Either Grant field or the practice fields. They could schedule around using the same field. I would say the practice fields are the most likely location.
 
i don't like the idea of anything other than football being played on Grant Field, but that is just my /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twocents.gif
 
Men's lacrosse, women's field hockey, women's golf, men's and women's soccer - it would be fun to have all of these sports at Tech. I think recruiting up the East Coast and internationally in soccer we would be very successful. I enjoy watching Duke lacrosse up here in the Spring.

The expense would be in scholarships, with few going to in-state students. Coaching salaries are modest, equipment costs small with the exception of lacrosse.

I watched a Tech-NC State club lacrosse match last Spring when I was on campus. Not a bad crowd at all was there to cheer on the Jackets.
 
Great question!

My answer is unabashedly selfish, but...I would love to see women's crew added as an ncaa scholarship sport. More and more schools in the south are adding crew, but it's nothing like the eastern schools.
Crew makes alot of sense for not only my daughter, but for schools that want to develop a woman's program that involves a decent sized team (18-24) at a fairly low cost.

Tech currently has Crew, but it's a club sport.
Again, my plan is for selfish wants, but a good plan nonetheless!
 
I have become a fan of Lacrosee over the last couple of years. I think it would be a great addition to the athletic program.
 
Another vote for lacrosse...

I played while I was in the Air Force (at Wright-Patterson AFB). It's a great game. I have been to the last 14 NCAA lacrosse Final Fours.

Other than lax, I think soccer makes the most sense.
 
I am of the opinion that...

there is no real reason to grow our sports program. Why? Anything that is added will draw resources (i.e. money)from the existing programs as NOTHING that can be added will produce revenue. Furthermore outside of the big 3 (FB,baseball,men's BB)who really gives a damn. I have been a golfer most of my life and I can't even recall a conservation with another human being about GT's golf program and its success.Throwing balls with sticks? women's soccer? Rowing boats? These may be fun hobbies and I have no problems with people who do these things as a pasttime but I don't want these to be funded by the GTAA. Let's focus on what we do now and improve. Capital needs to be spent on sports that will return the investment.

As an old-school alum, I would rather have one more MNC in FB before the Lord calls me home than 25 Sears trophies or whatever that trophy is that they give to the best overall athletic department. Just one idiot's opinion as they say.
 
Re: I am of the opinion that...

I agree with (what seems to be) the majority on here that it would be great to expand the sports programs at Tech. It's always stuck in my craw a bit that, even in years when our higher-profile teams - i.e., football, basketball, baseball, golf, and tennis - do well, we still don't have a chance for the NCAA all-around sports championship because we don't compete in many of the sports that, for expample, UNC and Stanford (who win this thing from time-to-time) do. HOWEVER, I also agree with B that this is a financial issue. I remember years back GT dropped several sports, such as gymnastics, because the resources were spread too thin. I'd like to see an AD with a long-range plan like Homer Rice had, that says we become more successful in the sports we compete in now, which will increase fan enthusiasm and therefore contributions, and then use the increased revenue - which, by the way, will include the much, much larger payouts from higher-profile bowl games - to add additional sports, one at a time.
 
Re: I am of the opinion that...

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Throwing balls with sticks? women's soccer? Rowing boats?

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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugher.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hugelaugh.gif That is funny!
 
While I agree that we need to...

ensure that we do what we do as well as we can before we start trying to do new things, I also must question how badly it would hurt football or basketball to start a new program. Why can't we support some new programs? Why can all those other schools do it and we can't? I have often wondered how so many other schools can support more programs than we can.

I think this discussion is beginning to creep over into the "what is the purpose/what should be the purpose of an intercollegiate athletic program at a university"?

And besides hijacking this thread, I just don't feel like going there right now.

BTW, I would take just as much, if not more, pride in a national championship season in lacrosse, soccer, crew or any other sport that Georgia Tech participates in. Excllence in any endeavor should be recognized, applauded and enjoyed.

Just another idiot's opinion.
 
Re: While I agree that we need to...

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BTW, I would take just as much, if not more, pride in a national championship season in lacrosse, soccer, crew or any other sport that Georgia Tech participates in. Excllence in any endeavor should be recognized, applauded and enjoyed.

Just another idiot's opinion.

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I can't believe you really mean this, especially the "if not more" part of your statement.

I happen to believe excellence in minor, Title IX non rev. sports are a great escape tunnel for ADs that aren't getting it done with the most recognizable programs. (FB and men's BB) I am glad to see baseball up to #3, but still a way distant third.

A national title in Greco-Roman Badminton does not make up for poor to mediocre football. Just my stupid opinion!
 
Re: While I agree that we need to...

Well all I can tell you is that a well rounded sports program that is of high caliber adds quite a bit to the life of other campuses. It involves more people in the athletics side and give school a different feel. MD, UNC, Wake Forest, Duke to name a few are schools I've spent time around and I do believe that having more women's sports and more of the minor men's sports adds to the experience and makes the schools more desireable to more people. For many of those sports, alumni are a big part of their success and provide a lot of support.

I'm not saying they will ever approach football or basketball, but if the funds can be found I'm all for adding sports. I'm also all for making every sport Tech participates in high caliber.
 
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